


Smile

by ArcaneAnima



Series: Pieces [Song Inspired Stories] [1]
Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Canon Divergence, F/M, Reader-Insert, Self-Indulgent, Songfic, This is probably going to be real short and like.... idk enjoy ahaha., do tags even work, hxh - Freeform, idk how to tag, kurapika kurta - Freeform, reader - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:28:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26021194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArcaneAnima/pseuds/ArcaneAnima
Summary: Your parents had warned you that the world was unjust.Your parents taught you to smile through hardships.And so you smiled through every sin you committed.{Inspired by Smile by Jeff and Casey Williams}
Relationships: Kurapika (Hunter X Hunter)/Reader
Series: Pieces [Song Inspired Stories] [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1888654
Comments: 6
Kudos: 21





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Okay all my fics are self-indulgent.  
> I've been feeling really inspired by songs lately.
> 
> Lyrics are italicized... they're integral to the story.  
> Check out the song if you want, too. I find the complexity of it to really suit the predominantly morally-gray characters from HxH.

_Child… Our daughter, sit while we talk a while.  
You’ve done no misdeed. Still, they’ll put your life on trial._

Her tribe, for as long as she could remember, was one that lived close to the sky. Naturally so, as every member had golden markings along their back and arms-- markings that escaped the confines of their skin and formed nearly-translucent wings that lifted their light bodies into the air in times of crucial need. Their dwellings were high in the trees, nestled within naturally woven and intertwined branches and concealed by the thick foliage. Their beds were nests of smooth leaves, though many of them indulged in soft cotton blankets they’ve collected from traders. She found out that their feathers were very rare, and so her people would trade one or two for a variety of things they normally would not get from their forest alone… like different types of clothing, outlandish cuisine, and other assortments of knick-knacks. She, personally, was fascinated with the books the traders carried. Alas, the books always went to the elders, never the children.

Her tribe was a tribe of fighters, though she never saw the need for it in her young age, she trained with the other children in basic combat. However, from her earliest memory, her parents had never treated her like a helpless child, and so they pushed her to practice their styles of attack and defense thoroughly. Her parents respected her juvenile curiosity and satiated it with dissected answers, and this environment cultivated a mind that was vast and full of knowledge. In hindsight, she saw everything as a game and as a wonderment in her childhood, but picking apart her memories now…

Vividly, she can recall the day her parents called her in from training early and asked her to sit with them. They sat in their back-garden if you will, seated on the branches with their feet dangling as they drank tea. She was ten, and she can’t remember the conversation exactly as it was, but she remembered how her father took her hand, tracing the gold markings that began on her wrists. “Daughter.” His voice was deep and kind. “One day you’ll want to leave the tribe.”

”Why would I want to leave?” She had asked.

”Because you’ll learn that the world is vast, and adventure runs in our veins.” She remembered how he chuckled, and how quickly his smile turned into a frown. “We can’t stop you, but there are things you need to know.”

Her mother, a stern woman who toed both she and her father in line most of the time, scooped her up into her lap. “Our wings make us special,” she had said, “and they’re both a blessing and a curse. If you need to venture out of this forest, you must hide your marks, okay?”

As a child, she didn’t understand why she should hide such a big part of her identity. She didn’t understand why her mother had called their marks, their wings, a curse. But she had nodded. Her mother had sighed deeply, holding her close and kissing her crown of hair.

”[Name], as you grow, you’ll learn that the world is not a fair one,” her mother said. “Just know that… you’re perfect as you are.” She remembered feeling her father’s big warm hand in hers, and the comfort of her mother’s embrace.

She remembered, as she had stood beneath the canopy of her home years later, the pain in her throat as she screamed. She remembered her wings bursting from her skin, shooting her up into the trees, barely feeling the branches cut her skin and the cold from the rain. She remembered the bodies that littered the branches, the nests, the vine bridges… The tribe that she loved, that she grew up with, that was full of life torn from her like the wings torn from every single corpse. She remembered discovering her parents’ bodies and sinking onto her knees, her wings covering the three of them as she sobbed and cried through the storm and through the night.

She remembered, and she wished she could forget.

\--The night she understood their curse.

_Born like your family-- far from any state of grace. You’re as perfect as the wind and sky But they’ll treat you like you’re out of place._


	2. Cold

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am nervous that people are reading this self indulgent trash that is not beta read but uh  
> henlo hi  
> I am just really in love with Kurapika I'm not really focusing on story flow SJKSJSJKS

_The world is cold. The power is with those who will judge and control._

She had found him on her travels, or rather... he had found her. She had fled her home, her forest, taking to the skies and shooting away from everything she had known in a desperate flight from reality. She had probably flown for a couple of days, because her next memory was waking up in a cave, a fire’s light failing to illuminate past a few feet around her. Coming to her senses, she had leapt from her spot and looked around wildly, her golden marks burning as wings swirled from their confines and puffed out behind her. The moment she had spotted his shadowy figure, she had moved to fly out of the cave and into the darkness. She was glad she didn’t.

“So that’s how you fell out of the sky,” he had mused quietly. He was seated against the wall, gray eyes flickering orange in the fire’s glow. She wondered how he had remained so calm, staring down someone with wings, caked in dried blood and looking every bit feral as any other wild animal.

“W-Who are you,” she hissed out, “why haven’t you killed me?” Something flickered in his eyes then, literally and figuratively. She wasn't sure back then if it was a trick of the light, a flash of scarlet, but at that moment he seemed to have understood her entire situation immediately.

“My name is Kurapika, and I am the last survivor of the Kurta clan.”

“...The last… survivor?”

“The Kurta … were known for their eyes. And they were all slaughtered for them… except me.” She had flinched, her wings drooping slightly. She supposed it was some sort of sick luck that she would happen upon possibly the only other person that knew exactly how she felt and what she had gone through. Before her, Kurapika had come to the same conclusion. “I suppose your clan was … for your wings,” he continued softly. “I’m sorry.”

She didn’t know what had gotten into her at that point, but when Kurapika uttered those words… so softly, and so sadly, the last bit of strength within her that she had been protecting and shielding for days shattered. She fell to her knees and wept. She didn’t hear him get up. She didn’t hear the soft footfalls drawing nearer. She cried until she was numb, until there were no more tears to shed for the night, until her heart felt just a tad lighter. When she became aware of her surroundings once more, the blond was back in his spot, but his blue garb rested on her shoulders. Her wings formed a golden semi-circle around her, draped lightly on the cave’s mossy floor. She sniffled, lifting her head to face him, and gave him her name. “...Of the Ginko tribe,” she added quietly.

Kurapika regarded her. “[Name],” he said. “And what will you do now?”

She was silent for a long time, mulling over her options. She remembered her parents’ words-- how the world is cold, how those with power are unjust, but through it all… She had to believe that she was innocent. She had to grit her teeth through hardship and learn to smile.

”I want to live the way my parents taught me to, in a world that slaughters innocents,” she finally replied, her wings disappearing into her skin once more. She had met his crimson gaze unflinchingly, and somehow she knew that he understood.

When the sun rose the next day, she had expected him to be gone, but he stayed. From that day on, they had stuck together, trained together, and found solace in one another.

_But we have a chance to make it right for you. This is what you’ll do…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ooc? yes  
> timing? non existent


	3. Whatever It Takes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um we developing... some things lol
> 
> Did i say this was canon divergent? AU? bc it is
> 
> Anyways heres a longer chap bc chap2 was so short

_Show them how you smile. It’s only for a while._

Kurapika and [Name] had become good friends, though it did take many years for either of them to learn that it was okay to let their guard down with each other, if only a little. Both of them had found their smile again, slipping into a routine in their travels, trusting that they had each others’ back. Both of them had had only each other to spar with, and so they each integrated each others’ fighting styles and developed their own. His style was very direct, powerful, and practical. Hers was about speed, evasion, and wearing the enemy down. She supposed it suited their personalities… and their goals.

[Name] remembered that day vividly, as vividly as the night she found her tribe slaughtered-- it was the day she and Kurapika finally opened up to each other. It was after a long sparring session, so she was sprawled on the dirty ground while her blond companion drank water from a satchel a few feet away. She groaned. “I’m hurting all over. Not even my parents--” She paused abruptly, her mouth closing as her heart dropped. Kurapika turned to her, observing the emotions flicker on her face. “...not even my parents pushed me this hard,” she breathed softly. “Maybe they should have.”

”You did well.” She turned to him, a little surprised. The blond walked over, seating himself beside her and offering her water. “You’ve gotten much stronger.”

”Strong enough to find the people that did this and bring them down?” She asked, accepting the water and taking a big gulp. It was not an entirely serious question. She played it off like a jest, but she knew deep down even then that she meant it in some way. Beneath the sadness, the grief, bubbled a fierce fury and hunger for revenge. It seemed it was Kurapika’s turn to be caught off-guard, however, as he had turned to her in shock.

”You mean to hunt them down?”

”I mean,” she began, pushing herself up so she too was seated beside him. “I don’t know. I feel like I’m still in mourning. But,” her hand moved up, grasping her chest as if to support her aching heart. “I’m so angry. I’m so angry at the world, even if I haven’t seen much of it… Because it’s a word where these things can happen.”

Kurapika was silent, urging her to continue.

”My tribe was… wonderful. It was small, and warm, and my family…” Under her clothing, her marks began to burn, and she rubbed her arms to self-soothe until the burning went away. “My mother was stern; she had warned me at an early age that I should always be cautious. My father… He taught me to smile in the face of adversity.” She mulled over her words in a moment of silence, before she turned to her companion. “Perhaps that’s what I’ll do. Keep going. Keep smiling. Make those changes…” her gaze dropped to her covered arms. “...with my own two hands.”

”...I’m going to hunt the Spiders down.” [Name] lifted her head, watching Kurapika’s gray eyes turn crimson. “I am going to become a Hunter, and exact justice on the people that killed my clan.” She knew he meant to wipe them out, whoever those people were, and slaughter them as they did his people. She found that she didn’t care if he was resolute in his murderous plans, because she understood.

[Name] offered him his hand, giving him a small smile. “I’ll support you. We’ll avenge our families.” Though he hesitated, Kurapika took her hand in his, and she squeezed. She gazed into his beautiful ruby eyes, steeling her own resolve. “Whatever it takes.”

Kurapika nodded, squeezing her hand. “Whatever it takes.”

_Take what you need… leave them to bleed…_

It felt like a long time ago, honestly, but after that, they were much more comfortable and open with each other. So much so that when they came upon a cross-roads, they did not want to part. Kurapika had a concrete plan; he had told her so. He was going to train, get strong enough to pass the Hunter exam, find his clan's murderers, and wipe them from existence. [Name] on the other hand decided that the best way to cleanse the world from its darkness was to infiltrate the shadows and force the underground networks into an implosion, one that will render it destroyed at least for her entire lifetime. Kurapika wasn’t so sure about her plan, but then she brought up that he had no plan for _after_ the Spiders were killed, and that put him back into silence.

They didn’t want to part ways, but they had to. So when their paths began to split, [Name] embraced the blond and thanked him for everything. Kurapika had smiled. “This isn’t goodbye,” he had said. She found that his voice had become a comfort to her, and she had told him so, earning her a quiet chuckle.

”Whatever it takes,” [Name] said, offering him her hand. Kurapika took it without missing a beat, a subtle smile gracing his features. She squeezed. He squeezed back.

”Whatever it takes.”

Now, as she stands in the middle of a dim room, she remembers her tribe, her friend, and her journey. She wonders where Kurapika was now, and if he’s passed the Hunter exam. Before her, bodies litter the concrete floor, painting the dull gray with a deep, deep red. It reminds her of him. She wonders, if he could see her now, if he would still understand her path. In her ear, a voice comes through a device, telling her to escape before their reinforcements come. [Name] spins on her heel, sheathing her daggers, and remembers to smile. Like a prayer, she whispers, “whatever it takes.”

_Let them know bitter while your revenge is sweet._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so  
> If this is confusing, I am sORRY
> 
> I wanted Reader to follow Ilia's path from the show RWBY. Smile is a song written for that character.  
> Essentially, Reader has taken her parents' encouraging words and twisted it into something else (ie the italicized lyrics) She means well, but ... well, is she right? is she wrong? Does the end justify the means? 
> 
> Also I don't know if I want to follow the anime. . I might for a bit, but this is so self-indulgent and I am probably going to deviate ahaha
> 
> Anyways. Yeah. I can't believe there are readers for this lol thank you i appreciate you


End file.
